Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I really should read my own blog.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Reality always wins in the end.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

I’m going back to the respite thread.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

This fight is for everything.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

This really is a full service blog.

This is all too absurd to be reality, right?

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Women: they get shit done

Infrastructure week. at last.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Racial Justice / #BLM #M4BL / Sunday Morning Open Thread: Reports from Netroots Nation 2016

Sunday Morning Open Thread: Reports from Netroots Nation 2016

by | 168 Comments

This post is in: , , , ,

No garden pics this week — guess everybody’s too busy working outside and/or melted down into puddles of mulch-enriched sweat — so here’s a different form of uplift. From that Washington Post article:

ST. LOUIS — Hillary Clinton will call for a constitutional amendment to “overturn Citizens United” in her first 30 days as president and plans to make that announcement today to progressive activists at the annual Netroots Nation conference.

“I will also appoint Supreme Court justices who understand that this decision was a disaster for our democracy,” Clinton will say in a video message, scheduled to run near the end of today’s final keynote session. “I will fight for other progressive reforms, including small-dollar matching and disclosure requirements. I hope some of the brilliant minds in this room will seek out cases to challenge Citizens United in the courts.”…

Since 2010, the Citizens United decision has become a metonym for a series of conservative Supreme Court decisions that unwound campaign finance regulations. Democrats have repeatedly tried to pass disclosure measures, as well as an amendment to the Constitution, intended to reverse the decisions. Republicans, often led by Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), have characterized those efforts as attacks on the First Amendment.

Even though the case was fought over an anti-Hillary Clinton documentary, Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) became its most prominent critic in the 2016 primaries. He never finished a speech without mentioning Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, blaming it for the money gushing into politics, and pledging to appoint a Supreme Court that would undo it…

netroots nation st louis BLM protest

Chris Savage of Eclectablog reported:

[Saturday] afternoon, I was sitting in a Netroots Nation 2016 panel titled “Rejecting the Pale, Male and Stale Leadership Pipeline: Roadmap to Building Inclusive Orgs”. Suddenly, a group of young, mostly African American burst into the room carrying a spay-painted banner that read “Fight back”. They told us they were marching to meet a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown St. Louis. They went from room to room, including the “Townhall” area where the booths and social area were located, encouraging attendees to join the protest.

Anne and I joined the march which went through the middle of town chanting and doing call-and-response before we ended at the entrance ramp to Interstate 64…

The entire event was well-organized, well-executed, and peaceful. The St. Louis police monitored the situation but kept their distance without interfering. In a conversation with one cop afterwards, he told us that they had to have a presence because if something had happened and someone got hurt, they needed to be there. They faced being accused of not caring otherwise. But he commended the protesters for being peaceful and respectful…

Also a certain Very Serious Person took a well-earned victory lap, via video:

Netroots Nation 2017 will be held in Atlanta, August 10-13.

Apart from #Don’t Mourn Organize, what’s on the agenda for the day?

Reader Interactions

168Comments

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    No garden pics this week —

    Was going to send you something but my computer went down about a month ago and my wife’s is acting funny in such a way I am unable to access any pics from the extended drive. If the computers on cars were as fvcked up as laptops are, there would be heads on spikes.

  4. 4.

    MattF

    TPM is reporting that a WV legislator is calling for Hilz’s execution for mis-handling email. By hanging, on the National Mall. After a trial, I should say, so it would all be perfectly legal.

  5. 5.

    Another Holocene Human

    If anybody is out there thinking about hormone therapy for their transgender condition, please don’t wait 20 years like I did. 20 years plus of your brain pickling in the wrong hormones will do nothing but harm. Also, hormone replacement therapy doesn’t cause roid rage or PMS, hormonal fluctuations and juicing cause that. You don’t suddenly become another person, you just get to be more of yourself. I wish someone would have told me that instead of telling me old queen’s tales about “second puberty” “mood swings” and the like. Or fear mongering about surgical options. The reason trans people get surgeries is because they work. Dysphoria bad. Fixing it good.

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Aimai: She always acts a little funny, that’s why I married her. Keeps me on my toes. Especially when she talks in her sleep. The things I learn then….

  8. 8.

    RSR

    Atlanta for NN17? In August? Can’t say I’m thrilled with that pick. But it’s not about me, so I hope it works well. I don’t know if I’ll attend or not.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    @MattF:

    After a trial, I should say, so it would all be perfectly legal.

    Presided over by Judge Kafka, I’m sure.

  12. 12.

    Zinsky

    @MattF: Matt – the inability of people on the right to think judiciously and failing to apply common sense and precedent to current circumstances is a hallmark of the modern conservative movement. Is this asshole in West Virginia, land of the toothless, also planning to execute Colin Powell and Condaleeza Rice, since they also used private e-mail servers?

  14. 14.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Netroots Nation 2017 will be held in Atlanta, August 10-13.

    In my calendar.

    @RSR:

    We have air conditioning. Come on down!

  15. 15.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Zinsky: Don’t forget the Right’s favorite lying, sexually covetous, traitor… I mean Heroic Patriot, David Petraeus.

  16. 16.

    Applejinx

    I’m thrilled to see Hillary turn so obviously against Citizens United. To me it’s like the concept of picking Warren for veep: it’s a tell. We don’t need ALL the tells but we can and should be paying attention to them.

    As the resident more-and-more-pumped-about-Hillary-whilst-still-not-entirely-trusting-her, what this tells me is that Hillary believes in the lefty rabble, even those Bernistas who had been so annoying. Bernie’s run demonstrated it was possible to run a populist campaign and raise enough money to win (money is still the deciding factor in elections).

    She’s prepared to trade away (or at least make more cumbersome) the channels raw money and capital use to pay HER off, in the belief that she won’t need it: hobble that side of politics and the Republicans lose worse, and she’s capable of making it up with small donors and running legitimately populist campaigns. In fact she’s so convinced of this she figures she and other Dems can keep ahead of RIGHT wing populist campaigns of that nature, and I think she’s right. The wingnuts are increasingly old and impoverished and grifted-upon, and the 2016 primary demonstrated that the progressive wing of the Left still has a crapload of money in the tank to make the engine go.

    This is a very dark and cynical view of politics (but, it’s a view of politics: what do you expect?).

    On the other hand, it’s a dark and cynical view which suggests the probable leader of the free world has correctly identified a popular swing away from oligarchy, and means to LEAD that swing and see to it that the backlash is productive and betters the country. AND she’s a wonk, and she has political clout for days.

    Apologies to all those who’ll tell me ‘OF COURSE she does this, it’s who she’s always been!’ and we may never know if you’re right. You may end up with much evidence to support your faith in her, because what it looks like from here is, Hillary is choosing sides and telegraphing it in no uncertain terms.

    I just think she stands to gain hugely by doing this—that it’s far from an altruistic move—but indeed it’s better for us all.

  18. 18.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    I wonder just how critical Citizens United is. It allows massive spending by outside groups in support of candidates, and that certainly has happened. But I haven’t seen (and I have looked) any analysis of how this affects results. If all that ‘black’ money is being used to buy advertising, that’s probably the least effective way to influence a national election. GOTV and direct contact matter far more. Advertising enriches broadcasters and consultants, but produces little lasting result to motivate voters. They tune it out and the effect fades.
    I’d like to know if CU has actually skewed outcomes, and if so how.
    I still want it gone, but I’d like to know just how worrisome it is. Seems like that should have been investigated by now in terms other than just dollars spent.

  23. 23.

    MattF

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: It’s a bad thing when elections are reduced to a shoot-out between teams of dueling billionaires. That said, I’d rather see billionaires get taken for a ride by political con artists than ordinary people get fleeced by the likes of Trump or Noot.

    And I agree that the effect of money on politics (short of actual pay-to-play) is murky.

  24. 24.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @Baud: True. I intentionally referred to the national races in my comments because races where the candidates have lower name recognition are likely to be influenced more by advertising. Down-ticket races are where the GOP is clobbering us, and CU is helping them.

  25. 25.

    JPL

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: The increase in funding on the local level, seems to help.
    The Koch brothers promise to support Republican candidates for Congress, and it will be interesting to see, if that helps keep the Senate in Republican hands.

  26. 26.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: The direct effect on election results is probably less important than the influence that’s being bought over the candidate. The money has diminishing marginal value, yes, but for that very reason the candidate is acutely aware that they need a whole lot of it. And anyone can see under the tiny fig leaf that the law currently requires for unlimited PAC contributions.

    Also, I suspect you actually can buy a desired result in small local races, where everyone is struggling just to put up a few yard signs, and, say, Koch money suddenly pours in to bigfoot somebody.

  27. 27.

    Peter

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: Although it hasn’t been as apocalyptic as many people feared, it’s definitely had an effect on state and local elections, and has amplified the Republican Party’s primary problem – by which I mean, how you have to be a batshit loon to avoid a primary challenge, where dark money can have a big impact.

  29. 29.

    debbie

    @Ultraviolet Thunder:

    From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t do much more than give the donors opportunities to make themselves look like jackasses. I’d rather have a sunshine law for political donations. Let the people know who’s behind all the money.

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: All the analysis I’ve read showed little bang for the buck, tho most (if not all) of that was focused on federal elections. As others have stated, local and state elections could well be a different story.

  33. 33.

    Immanentize

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: I believe the biggest effect on national races, I.e. President (And sate-wide races like the Senate) has been in the vast voter suppression work accomplished due to dark money in States and in courts which makes.even the Presidential race look closer than it ought to be decreasing mandate or even as we have seen, legitimacy.

  34. 34.

    gene108

    @Applejinx:

    Apologies to all those who’ll tell me ‘OF COURSE she does this, it’s who she’s always been!’ and we may never know if you’re right. You may end up with much evidence to support your faith in her, because what it looks like from here is, Hillary is choosing sides and telegraphing it in no uncertain terms.

    Democrats have been trying to undo the CU decision from the moment it was decided. Democrats came out with the DISCLOSE Act in the summer of 2010. It failed to get passed a Republican filibuster by one vote.

    I do not ascribe wanting to undo the CU decision to altruistic intentions. The decision has been used by Republicans to devastating effect to gain control of state house. For Democrats, it is a matter of self preservation to get rid of the effects of the decision and level the playing field.

    I do not think it is a coincidence Republican gains in the last six years coincide with the CU decision, gutting the VRA and voter ID laws.

    I’d personally like another Constitutional Amendment aimed at making voter disenfranchisement harder, if not impossible, so dirty tricks like purging voter roles, long waits in urban areas, onerous voter ID laws and literacy tests* become a thing of the past.

    * Literacy tests are banned via the VRA. Given the current Republican hostility to the VRA, if they ever get control of government again, I expect the VRA to be on the chopping block and literacy tests to make a come back.

  35. 35.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @satby:

    There are quite a few Juicers in metro Atlanta (or at least within comfortable driving distance, like Raven) and we have thirteen months to put this thing together! Let’s do it!

  36. 36.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    I’ll bring the anthrax, you bring the tire irons.

    Tire rims, not tire irons. Sheesh. Were you raised by wolves?

  37. 37.

    Scapegoat

    We just signed a sales agreement on our house to a very nice racially-mixed young couple (an Assistant Professor and a professional musician) and are finally moving away from the conservative urbs surrounding the University of Cognitive Dissonance. Will be raising Billygoat in our favorite city next to a 660 acre wooded park.

    Thrilled is a weak word for the feeling!

    As for Hillary, I like to think that the nation has finally caught up with her early career ambitions; ones that she was repeated pulverized for (and as a result were suppressed) over the past few decades. Of course, the possibility exists that this may also be yet another display of her complete malleability to popular messages, regardless of which way the wind is blowing .

    In either case, we win if she wins – – especially if she follows through.

  38. 38.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    Being that there’s no garden pics… One of the advantages of becoming a member of the Huntington is that on a few evenings they reopen the grounds(not the galleries) for members to see the place as the sun sets. Last night was one of those evenings(my first), so I got some pics.

  39. 39.

    satby

    @Applejinx: Sometimes you’re incredibly dense. Citizens United Not Timid was primarily founded as a super PAC against Clinton’s run in 2008 (the name was even chosen to call her a (CUNT). Of course SHE’s going to come out for overturning that odious decision.

  40. 40.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    If the computers on cars were as fvcked up as laptops are, there would be thousands of bodies of people who died slowly & in utter agony trapped in crumpled wrecks.

    FTFY.

    And then there would be heads on spikes.

  43. 43.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    Now I feel bad about casting nasturtiums at you in #36. But not bad enough to delete it.

  44. 44.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @satby: This is true, but there were two different Citizens United groups; Roger Stone’s(the one you mentioned) and another that generated the CU case.

  46. 46.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    Atlanta in August can be brutal. It’s like a ghost town at mid-day; nobody on the streets.
    I have to be in Marietta Mon-Weds. It’s another clean room bunny suit job so I’ll be cool during the day. Not planning on going for any walks in the afternoon.

  47. 47.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Uncle Cosmo: instead, there are thousands of people who died slowly & in utter agony with their heads impaled on laptop screens thru repeated and increasingly forceful head banging in frustration.

  49. 49.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: The interesting effect of Citizens Untied ;^) on the GOP of 2016 was that any candidate who could attract a sugardaddy willing to part with enough of his Money Bin had the wherewithall to stay in till the bitter end. This allowed Trumpolini to win early primaries with bare pluralities, & then send his opponents packing one by one when they wouldn’t combine against him until it was too late (each weed in that Field of Schemes meeting its individual pseudo-Niemöller moment when there was no one left to speak for them because the remaining candidates all hoped to be the last one standing instead of than making a collective (8^O) stand). Stand by rugged individualism, fall by rugged individualism, I guess… Also, unintended consequences!

  50. 50.

    Aimai

    @Applejinx: christ–you again? The thing I object go in your comments is that you have the most juvenile, ham fisted, third hand, political views–yet you insist on lecturing the rest of us, and Hillary Clinton, as though we were in need of your help and explications. No–Hillary is not an evil genius. Yes she has done some obviously smart things to communicate with Bernie’s moron followers. For instance the “constitutional amendment” part of her NN proffer was obviously made to stroke the egos of people so fucking stupid that they think an ungettable constitutional fix is evidence of strenghth and determination and doing what Bernie wants. Any lawyer (which she is) or political actor (which she is) knows that citizens united can only be overturned effectively by a liberal supreme court which Hillary was always going ng to appoint.

  51. 51.

    AMinNC

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Your photos are gorgeous. Makes me want to become AM in CA, in spite of y’all’s water issues (and in spite of the fact that if I’m no longer in NC I don’t know if I can still use the word “y’all’s”)

  52. 52.

    gene108

    @Ultraviolet Thunder:

    2011 “New Yorker” article on Art Pope’s influence on the 2010 state elections in NC.

    As stated above Democratic state legislators who maybe took out a TV ad in the last week of October were getting blitzed with attack ads for months and they did not have the money or infrastructure to respond.

    Edit: Art Pope’s involvement was spearheaded by the likes of Ed Gillespie, who helped dream up Operation Red State in 2010, which was based on using third party money via the CU decision to impact down ballot races.

  53. 53.

    Baud

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I need to bone up on internet traditions.

    casting nasturtiums

    ” Simple Definition of nasturtium
    : a plant with circular leaves and yellow, orange, or red flowers that are sometimes eaten”

    Huh?

  54. 54.

    satby

    @Aimai: I was going to add “quit lecturing about the fantasy Clinton in your head” but the Kindle died on me before I could totally finish.

  56. 56.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: Think of it as being like throwing roses at the returning Roman General after a successful campaign of conquest.

  58. 58.

    satby

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Aha! Ok, I stand corrected on that specific detail.
    But the jinx can still quit lecturing us about Machiavelli Hillary, because it’s really offensive. I’m not here to read gummed over right wing bullshit masquerading as progressive analysis.

  59. 59.

    Botsplainer, Neoliberal Corporatist Shill

    @Aimai:

    There may be a side road to fixing it via the tax code and state organizing statutes in terms of deductibility of lobby expenses.

    What if corporations who pay for lobbying had to treat those expenses as dividends to shareholders, per IRS regs? And in the ensuing whimpering litigation, the more liberal courts refined the “corporate personhood” doctrine to recognize that corporations are, as wholly government creatures of statute, not imbued with “belief” rights, which strip away 1st Amendment speech and religious protections.

    It would gut everything from Citizens United to Hobby Lobby, limit it to sole individual ownership and partnership entities that were only held by people.

  63. 63.

    WaterGirl

    Could we maybe skip the Appeljinx bashing? I see what he/she is going through as a process and I see these posts as thinking out loud or perhaps even as a way to help bring other hard-core Bernie people along in whatever process they are going through.

    Sometimes, perhaps many times, I read a few lines of Applejinx and move on, but I don’t see why we have to call names when someone is not a troll.

  64. 64.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    Not an Internet tradition specifically, just an old classic malapropism (for “casting aspersions”).

  67. 67.

    raven

    @tybee: Nice, I’m done with the weedeater, now I have to dash in and out and watch “Beef” in the Open.

  69. 69.

    Poopyman

    @raven: I delayed cutting the grass in deference to the church a couple of hundred feet up the street (w/o A/C), but at least here in the Great Green North it’s only 77 and the dew point’s only 68. Both are climbing, though.

    Now to fire up the steed and ride!

  71. 71.

    Mike J

    Ariel Edwards-Levy ‏@aedwardslevy 15 minutes ago
    NBC/WSJ: Clinton +5, “numbers are unchanged”
    CNN/ORC: Clinton +7, “little has changed”
    Post/ABC: Clinton +4, “shift in Trump’s direction”

    John Harwood Verified account @JohnJHarwood
    new NBC/WSJ poll: in 13 swing states, Clinton leads Trump 48% to 40%

  75. 75.

    satby

    @WaterGirl: I don’t think aimai or I called him names. And his shtick is tedious, he stinks as a mindreader. Though as a fiction writer he has more talent.

  78. 78.

    Gelfling 545

    I have a couple of decent garden pics but my iPad & the email feature don’t see eye to eye.

  80. 80.

    NotMax

    Generally speaking, “call for a constitutional amendment” = Washingtonese for “kick the can down the road.”

  81. 81.

    Patricia Kayden

    @gene108: Could Rednecks or trailer park trash pass literacy tests? Many White people would fail those too. They better stick with voter ID laws.

  82. 82.

    Patricia Kayden

    @debbie: Quite ironic. What gets me about that video is how no one comes to the Black family’s defense. Not one person. Says a lot.

  88. 88.

    JanieM

    @Patricia Kayden: The rules are there to be used when convenient. Those registering voters will simply stretch them, so that if an illiterate white person has trouble with the test, that person will be helped along, whereas if a black person has any difficulty at all, he or she will be failed forthwith.

  92. 92.

    RealityBites

    I would love to find a way to end the election of judges. Now THAT is a way big money can really corrupt the system.

  96. 96.

    Gelfling 545

    @Baud: it’s an old malapropism for casting aspersions. Far older than the Internet.
    ETA I see this has already been mentioned. Reading this site in my iPad is torture but it’s all I have right now so I miss things as the scrolling sucks sewage.

  98. 98.

    O. Felix Culpa

    Ms. O and I are resting after a busy week organizing a Democratic Unity lunch that took place in Santa Fe yesterday. The HFA, Democratic Party, and Bernie supporters came together in support of our common goals – defeat Trump! support downticket candidates! We were expecting 50-60 people, over 100 showed up. It was a splendidly positive event and we signed up numerous volunteers for our phonebanking effort (with former Texas Senator Wendy Davis) this Thursday and future activities. Voter registration efforts are already ongoing and GOTV will really ramp up after the convention.

    And, one of the volunteers on my team brought home-baked toffee bars that were to die for. Enough to melt the resistance of the most obdurate Bernie supporter, I’m sure.

  99. 99.

    schrodinger's cat

    @jeffreyw: She has a very striking coat. How are the other kittehs reacting to Gabe?
    BTW since you cook a lot I has a question. Do you have any specific recommendations for cook tops/ranges and hoods? I prefer gas for the cooktop.

    *Trying again, since the first comment is stuck in moderation. Again.

  100. 100.

    PurpleGirl

    @jeffreyw: The look on the puppeh’s face is precious. He wants to change places with the cat so much. The calico’s colors are intense. Thanks for a great picture of a cute pair.

  101. 101.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    Does anyone who cans want some lids/liners? I bought some Ball Jars for storage and of course use storage lids. So I have wide mouth canning lids taking up space, and I would like for them to have homes. All the family folks who canned aged out.

  104. 104.

    MattF

    Warren has been tweeting links to ‘Crooked Donald’ news articles for the past hour. If you’ve got a taste for that sort of thing…

  105. 105.

    ruemara

    @Applejinx: christ. You are ignorant. She’s always been against it, it came about from a case of a media company doing anti-Hillary ads! You’ve been told this several times and still act like Columbus discovering America while conveniently ignoring the people already there.

  106. 106.

    Anya

    @MattF: I saw some people arguing on twitter: “but he said after a trial.” Like that makes a difference. I don’t understand where the people calling for Hillary’s imprisonment were during the Bush scandals. Did they call for Bush’s imprisonment during these scandals: American troops forced to travel in unarmored Humvees and BUY their OWN body armor; Abu Ghraib torture photos; outing a CIA agent as a payback for her husband telling the world that Bush was full of shit; Pat Tillman; Billions of dollars went missing in Iraq; politically motivated firing of U.S. Attorneys; missing emails and refusal to testify, drawning an American city, etc. And these are the ones I remember.

  107. 107.

    patrick II

    @Matt McIrvin:

    The threat of primarying republican congressmen by rwnj keeps many of them voting like they themselves were rwnj. That threat has been made pretty explicit by the Koch brothers who fund runs against any republican who has the nerve to vote for anything democrats want. So its not just the money spent, its the treat of money being spent that increases the influence in congress to those with deep pockets.
    Elected judges are also a big problem with Citizens United. If a corporation has a case coming before a court it is best to make a significant contribution to the judge who will rule your way. Before Citizens United, ex-judge (except for that time she denied voters the right to pick a president) was on a crusade to get money out of judicial elections. Haven’t heard from her since — I guess she’s off somewhere being a good quiet republican.

  108. 108.

    D58826

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: Read Jane Mayer’s Dark Money. The billionaires have found numerous ways to funnel money into the system w.o depending on Citizens United. That decision just makes it easier. While I think the decision should be overturned, it is just one of many problems with money in the system.

  109. 109.

    patrick II

    In the picture above, the young lady in shorts marching at the front of the demonstrators appears to me to be the same young nurse who was pictured being taken by two riot clad policemen a week or two ago.

  110. 110.

    MattF

    @Anya: As I suggested upthread, that detail means he’s not specifically advocating a lynching. It’s not really a positive angle to the story, if you ask me.

  111. 111.

    Major Major Major Major

    @ruemara:

    christ. You are ignorant. She’s always been against it, it came about from a case of a media company doing anti-Hillary ads! You’ve been told this several times and still act like Columbus discovering America while conveniently ignoring the people already there.

    That… is… one of the best analogies for this primary I’ve ever seen.

  116. 116.

    Anya

    @Mike J: The media narrative is that Clinton and Trump are neck and neck in the polls, despite HRC spending millions and Trump spending zero. Watching that, I was torn between anger and ambivalence. Anger because the media continues to prop Trump and to sell him as the “authentic, man of the people candidate.” But at the same time, I somewhat approve of that narrative because I want moron Trump to continue to do what he’s doing. He doesn’t need to open any field offices in the swing states because he’s already WINNING! He should just continue to hold rallies in the actual swing states of New York, California and New Jersey.

  118. 118.

    Thoughtful David

    @MattF:
    And yet Peter Wehner (NY Times) still thinks the GOP is not “a party sustained by racist appeals, composed of haters and conspiracy nuts, indifferent to the plight of the poor and the weak, anti-woman.”

    Silly little fool.

  119. 119.

    Emma

    @Applejinx: You know, I bet you were the kid who always wondered exactly what ulterior motives your mother had to bake you a cake for your birthday.

  122. 122.

    wenchacha

    Breaking: police shot in Baton Rouge, some dead. CNN is allowing Harry Houck to descibe it, and tell us all how everyone hates the police, aided by protesters and MSM.

  123. 123.

    AnotherBruce

    @Mary G: Where was the restaurant management during this. Leaving aside the racism (and you should not) If someone picks a fight in a place of business, they get kicked out of the place. Why would anyone put up with this (including the bystanders) when someone is ruining their meal?

  125. 125.

    WaterGirl

    @MattF: You forgot the best part, the caption:

    In related news, none of the men can find the north stairwell.

    I am still laughing out loud.

  126. 126.

    Thor Heyerdahl

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: CU might not have had an influence nationally, but at the State level (congress, senate, state houses & senate) especially in flyover states with cheap media buys, it likely was worth it to the oligarchs.

    Edit: if I had only read two comments later for the word of Baud

  129. 129.

    Doug R

    @debbie: I believe Justice Kennedy mentioned something about being able to find out who donors are in this internet age. That may be a solution-allowing anonymous donations up to say $1000 or even $10,000-to protect organizations like the NAACP, but requiring FULL names for larger donations, not just shell companies. First amendment doesn’t guarantee privacy, if you donate that much money, you lose your privacy rights.

  131. 131.

    WaterGirl

    @O. Felix Culpa: The unity event sounds awesome. Kudos to you guys for hosting! Holy cow, 100 people.

    I was sorry to see “former Texas Senator Wendy Davis” – does that mean she wasn’t reelected? That’s really too bad.

  135. 135.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @WaterGirl: Wendy Davis ran for Texas governor and lost. I could be wrong (too short on time to look up), but I think she gave up her Senate seat in the gubernatorial bid.

  138. 138.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @WaterGirl: Long form babbling about the cynical evil genius of HRC becomes tiresome after a few months. As does stating obvious things as though they were revelations. But then I am one of the assholes who didn’t like Tommy either.

  142. 142.

    philadelphialawyer

    One the one hand, we get the Hillary is a cool faced liar, a machiavellian manipulator and impostor of historic, evil genius status, schtick. On the other hand, we get the Hillary could not organize a booze up in a brewery, makes “unforced” and “gobsmack” error after error, and needs the learned and savvy commentariat’s political acumen and expertise merely to get out of bed in the morning, routine. They both suck.

  144. 144.

    jeffreyw

    @schrodinger’s cat: There hasn’t been much contact with the kittehs. They tend to just avoid him when he is awake. He hasn’t been chasing or barking them.
    Stoves? I lust for several of the big name six burner stoves but that would mean a kitchen remodel. We have a 30 year old Jenn-air convection range that came with grill and griddle modules. They haven’t been on there for a long long time.

  145. 145.

    Major Major Major Major

    @philadelphialawyer: “In the course of a single conversation, I have been assured that Hillary is cunning and manipulative but also crass, clueless, and stunningly impolitic; that she is a hopelessly woolly-headed do-gooder and, at heart, a hardball litigator; that she is a base opportunist and a zealot convinced that God is on her side. What emerges is a cultural inventory of villainy rather than a plausible depiction of an actual person.” — Henry Louis Gates
    1996

  146. 146.

    Stella B

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Nevertheless, CU was founded by David Bossie (of the Mellon-Scaife funded Arkansas Project) and CU** was founded by Roger Stone (general Republican rat-fuckery). Applejinx et al are just wildly wrong when they claim that HRC was at any time and in any amount accepting of the CU ruling.

  150. 150.

    MattF

    @schrodinger’s cat: If you buy one, get a fire extinguisher too. I’m not kidding– a relative of mine who’s an insurance adjuster says she denies coverage to anyone who has a Viking range but no extinguisher.

  151. 151.

    Ruckus

    @Ultraviolet Thunder:
    I look at CU a slightly different way. You and I and everyone else here have a vote. That of course is the basis of the government that we have and have had for it’s entire existence (Of course depending on where you live, your skin color, etc you may have been or still be subject to voter ID/literacy tests). But CU changes that. It says that if you have money, you have as much influence as you have dollars. It may not be a thoroughly effective use of your money, those dollars can’t actually vote, but that money can influence how others vote. And that means of course that billionaires can buy lies and people to tell them and pay far more to help get them elected than someone like you or me, people who work and have a very limited budget for political spending.
    It’s influence peddling, on a national scale. It was illegal and people went to jail for it, with good reason. So even if the kochsucker bros throw away millions or 100s of millions to get their totally horrible ideas enacted into law, we can not do that. It makes being wealthy a different class of citizenship and that isn’t right in a democracy.

  152. 152.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @MattF: I haven’t looked recently, but the uber-expensive “professional” ranges often had horrible ratings on Consumer Reports, also too. I don’t know if that’s due to “I spent eleventy billion on this thing and the knobs are 2-degrees off” or due to actual problems with them, but it makes one nervous about considering them.

    I didn’t know about the fire-extinguisher stuff. Good to know! :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (Who has a 50 year old push-button GE electric drop-in range that he wants to replace before the ice caps melt…)

  155. 155.

    Ruckus

    @WaterGirl:
    People are just trying to make the process go faster. Because otherwise it is extremely tedious and annoying. AJ expects us to all see that the constant lecturing is showing the greatness of his/her way and many are just tired of explaining that he/she is annoying and tedious. It is fine that a change is at hand, that sensibility is at least on the delivery truck if it hasn’t actually arrived but we have lives to live as well.

  160. 160.

    J R in WV

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I have a Viking range with 4 burners and a big grill in the center. I am buying a new stove and having the store take the Viking away when they deliver the replacement. You cannot get replacement parts for it,, and 2 of the 4 burners have corroded holes in the bottom, so you get blue flames under the burner, or, if they don’t light, methane gas fumes around the open flames.

    Plus the oven temp isn’t anything close to what the dial says, you need to add 50 degrees on the dial to get to the recommended temp for a recipe.

    It is a good-looking stove, but I’m getting rid of it and getting a replacement.

  161. 161.

    Ella in New Mexico

    @MattF:

    It’s a bad thing when elections are reduced to a shoot-out between teams of dueling billionaires.

    So true. And in addition, it has created the dark world of PAC to PAC money exchange secrecy that people may not realize is just a great big Pyramid Scheme for a whole lotta “candidates”. Thus spawning the absurd likes of Carson, Huckabee and Gingrich’s “campaigns”. Plus it encourages complete and total “snowballs chance in Hell of winning” losers because it’s actually very lucrative to run these days. CU enhanced the flourishing of grifters, and in my opinion, has overall hurt the quality of candidates by hogging up all the air in the room by the scum, and making it really hard for decent people to get a piece of the action. The Clown Car gets too full at some point.

    In some ways, we have CU to thank for the demise of the Republican Party of recent years, also have it to thank for the failure of the Party to correct itself. Which, regardless of us being Democrats, is ultimately scary and terrible for the nation.

  162. 162.

    Ella in New Mexico

    @O. Felix Culpa: Praise be, our beautiful New Mexico is still not crazy-land, and may the sickness pass us over in the coming days. ;-)

    Sounds like it was fun and productive!

  165. 165.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Renie:

    Attach them to an e-mail to front-pager Anne Laurie. (Use “contact a front-pager” link at top of the page.)

  167. 167.

    J R in WV

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    A 36-inch Thermador, which costs about the same as a Viking. It got better scores on Consumer Report, by a little bit, and an old appliance repair guy told me it was “good stuff, well made”. so I am cautiously optimistic.

    Sorry to be late answering the simple question, we had company late last night, and took a nap…

  168. 168.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    Praise be, our beautiful New Mexico is still not crazy-land

    Indeed, and there are good people working to keep the NM state senate and retake the house. The Democratic Unity tour started in Shiprock, moved to Taos, Santa Fe, and then Albuquerque. I think they’re having an ice cream social in Las Cruces today. Which is fitting, since today apparently is National Ice Cream Day, a holiday I can wholeheartedly support.

Comments are closed.